Farmington city council to consider property purchases Monday

Farmington city officials will on Monday decide whether to purchase two properties connected with redeveloping the former Maxfield Training Center property.

Developer AC Acquisitions has proposed a 155-unit apartment complex on the 3-acre site located at 33000 Thomas St., between School and Warner Streets.

This image, courtesy Preservation Farmington, shows the location of a house on Grand River that city officials have an option to buy.

In a memo to council members, city manager David Murphy said the city in 2015 signed options for properties on Grand River and Thomas, paying owners 10 percent of the purchase price– $25,900 and $20,000, respectively – to gain exclusive rights to buy them. Officials renewed the option in 2016, bringing the total expenditure to more than $90,000.

The extensions will expire in September and October, Murphy wrote.

Since the city has already paid homeowners 20 percent of the purchase price, he added, “the City Council should complete the two purchases and authorize the City Manager and City Attorney to notify the property owners that the City will be exercising the options and then to take all necessary actions to complete the closings on the properties.”

The area labeled “7” in this page from the Downtown Area Plan shows a possible pedestrian/vehicle connection between a Maxfield Training Center project and Grand River.

Development concepts in the city’s Downtown Area Plan show houses could be demolished to create a potential pedestrian/vehicle connection that would funnel traffic from the Training Center property to Grand River.

Council members will hold a study session at 6 p.m. before the regular 7 p.m. meeting. Both meetings are open to the public, and time is set aside for public comment. Agendas are posted at farmgov.com.